


I'm On Fire (Please Put It Out)

by LittleNest



Series: Batfamily Week 2018 [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Batfam Week 2018, Day 6: Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Scar Pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 16:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15561888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleNest/pseuds/LittleNest
Summary: Damian wakes up feeling like his spine is one fire. Dick takes care of him.Written for Batfam Week 2018, day 6: Hurt/Comfort





	I'm On Fire (Please Put It Out)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Batfam Week 2018](https://batfamweek2018.tumblr.com), day 6: Hurt/Comfort. Takes place While Bruce is "dead", Tim is away and Dick, Damian and Alfred are staying in the penthouse, some time after Damian got his spine transplant.
> 
> Unbeta-ed like the rest of the week's prompts, so if you find a mistake don't hesitate to tell me.  
> Potential warning for scar pain and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it dash of internalized ableism because League of Shadows.

A knock on the door.

“Hey Dami! You okay in there? You're usually up at this time and you're gonna be late for school if you don't get up now!”

Damian startled, sending a fresh wave of agony from his neck down to his tailbone. He'd only meant to take a few minutes to brace himself before standing up, but if Grayson was right then he'd been contemplating the ceiling for at least half an hour. Unacceptable.

Well, there was nothing to it now.

He clenched his jaw shut, put his feet on the floor and _pushed_. He put his hands on the wall to stabilize himself. He could still faintly hear knocking through the buzzing in his ears.

“Alright, Grayson, I'm coming!” He snapped.

The noise stopped. Damian resisted the temptation to just stand there and _breathe_ – didn't even entertain the thought of laying back down. 

He was supposed to be better than this.

* * *

Damian's mood was even sourer than usual when he came in the kitchen. He spent the duration of breakfast snapping at Grayson and Alfred whenever one of them tried to engage in a conversation or even just interact with him. It was mostly because of the pain – he already needed all his energy to function, civility was too much to ask – but he was also using it as part of a plan to get himself banned from patrol. He didn't even know how he'd make it through the school day, going out as Robin would only put both his and his Batman's lives in jeopardy. 

Grayson's cheerful attitude slowly gave way to a frown and a tense posture as Damian got increasingly rude. He tried to appease his guilt by telling himself it was for the best. It didn't really work.

Grayson finally had enough around the time Damian stood up to get ready. The sudden intrusion of the man in his personal space made him take a step back.  _ Big mistake _ . His back lit itself on fire just as his foot hit the ground, making readjusting his weight impossible and leaving him in an obviously unstable stance. He hoped against hope Grayson wouldn't notice.

The man's angry frown changed into a concerned one. There went that wish.

“Damian? You've been acting unlike yourself since this morning. Are you okay?”

He  _ wasn't _ .

“I'm fine!” He snapped. 

Grayson rose an eyebrow.

“Really?” He gave a light push on Damian's shoulder. If his position had been stable, he wouldn't have budged. If he'd been okay, he would just have taken another step back to balance himself. 

He wasn't okay. 

* * *

 

He wasn't exactly sure what happened next. One moment he'd been standing, and the other he'd been cradled in Grayson's arms.

“..mian! Damian!”

He felt himself being lifted and moved. Each movement seemed to make his vertebrae grind against each other. He tried to put up a show of debating. It wasn't really convincing.

Grayson sat on the couch, little brother still secured in his arms. 

“Alright Damian, this has gone on long enough. You're obviously in pain. Just tell me what's happening, okay?” His words were stern but his tone was soft. 

Damian opened his mouth but couldn't form any words. What could he possibly say? That he somehow got incapacitated by an already healed injury? How could he possibly put words to such weakness?

Grayson seemed to understand his struggles.

“Alright, it's okay if you can't explain, I'll just ask simple questions and you'll answer as best as you can, okay?”

Grayson looked at him expectantly. Getting the hint, Damian nodded.

“Good, that's good. We'll get through this.” Grayson's soothing tone and encouraging words seemed to be for him as much as it was for Damian.

“On a scale from one to ten, how high is your pain?”

_ Ten _ .

He held one hand up, slayed to show five fingers.

Grayson let out a humorless chuckle.

“We both know that's a lie.”

Damian didn't move.

“Okay, we'll get back to that later. Do you think it'd be less painful if I laid you down?”

Damian considered it. His spine was on fire. It would probably be better to lie down on a smooth surface, but his spine would probably still be on fire anyway. At least in Grayson's arms he felt a certain measure of comfort – not that he'd admit it out loud. 

He shook his head “no”.

“Good. Tell me if you change your mind at any point. Now, can you tell me what hurts?”

He managed to get the word “spine” out.

Grayson looked thoughtful for a moment. 

“Is it the scars?”

He nodded.

“How much pain are you in?”

Damian decided to compromise and held up seven fingers.

Grayson gave him a small smile. 

“All right, good job. I'll ask Alfred to draw you a warm bath, the heat should help enhance skin elasticity and reduce the pain.” Damian already knew that, but hearing Grayson explain it like he explained attack plans made him feel less helpless.

“Meanwhile, I'm going to call both of us in sick. If you're still in too much pain by the time you're done soaking, we'll ask Leslie what we can get you. And then we're going to spend the day in bed watching cheesy movies. That seems alright?”

Damian wanted to sneer at the prospect of “cheesy movies”, just for the sake of the banter, but couldn't find the strength to – he absolutely  _ did not _ secretly enjoy them – so he just buried his head in Grayson's side. 

For the first time since waking up, he thought the day might actually go well.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on my [Tumblr](https://lil-nest.tumblr.com)


End file.
